1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to an optical bidirectional communication module that incorporates a light emitting element, a light receiving element and an optical waveguide, on a substrate. The application also relates to an optical bidirectional communication apparatus that includes the optical bidirectional communication module.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical communication module that optically performs bidirectional communication through an optical fiber is well known. Japanese Patent Laid-Opens No. 10-206678 and No. 11-678705 disclose such optical communication modules.
The optical communication module disclosed in the publication No. 10-206678 includes a semiconductor laser module, a photodiode and a bandpass filter. The laser module and the photodiode respectively serve as a transmission unit and a reception unit of the optical communication module. The bandpass filter reflects to the photodiode light received from an optical fiber, and transmits to the optical fiber light emitted from the laser module. In this optical communication module, the laser module and the photodiode are individually packaged. This makes it difficult to downsize.
The optical communication module disclosed in the publication No. 11-678705 similarly includes a semiconductor laser element, a photodiode and a bandpass filter. In this optical communication module, the laser element, the photodiode and the bandpass filter are integrated on a planar substrate, and therefore this optical communication module can be downsized. However, the bandpass filter is adhesively mounted to a groove formed on the planer substrate by a dicing process. Therefore, the fabrication yield of this optical communication module is liable to decrease, resulting in high production costs.